Coin-operated delivering and fraud-preventing mechanism for vending-machines.



e D. GROVER.

COIN OPERATED DELIVERING AND D PREVENTING MECHANISM FOR VENDING'MAOHINES. APPLICATION FILED MAR-*9, 1905.

969,272, Patented Sept. 6,191 0.

ALBERT D. GROVER, OF MALDEN', MASSACHUSETTS.

COIN-OPERATED DELIVERING AND FRAUD-PREVENTING MECHANISM FOR VENDING- MACHINES.-

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 6, 1910.

Application filed March 9, 1905. Serial No. 249,224.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT D. GRovER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Malden, county of Middlesex, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Coin-Operated Delivering and Fraud-Preventing Mechanism for VendingMachines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the drawings accompanying the same.

My invention relates to a mechanism for delivering articles from a vending machine by means of the weight of the money token deposited in payment for the article to be delivered, and for devices for preventing the fraudulent delivery of the articles by means other than the proper money token.

The objects of my invention are as follows :-To provide means to prevent delivery of the articles by tokens other than money tokens of the value the mechanism is designed to be operated by. To provide a mechanism for delivering articles of merchandise in which the operation of delivering the articles is performed by the weight of a money token of a value representing their price.

In the drawings accompanying this specificationFigure 1 represents a sectional side elevation of a vending case with my coin testing and delivering mechanism mounted therein. Fig. 2 is a plan view through line 22 Fig. 1, showing my coin-operated delivering device.

In the drawings my coin-operated delivering and fraud preventing device is shown as applied to a vending case for vending collar buttons.

In this specification, 1 represents the vending case; 2 is the back; 3 the top; and 4 the bottom of said case.

5 is a money drawer into which the coins drop after operating the delivering mechanism; 6 is a slide covering the opening through which the money drawer is inserted and removed; 7 is a rod secured at its lower end to the slide 6, and its upper end bent at right angles as shown at 8 and contacting with the shelf 9 at the top portion of the casing in such manner that said slide 6 cannot be opened until the top of the machine is turned upwardly about the hinges 10.

11 is the front or door of the casing, which may or may not have a piece of plate glass inserted therein as shown at 12; 13 is an opening in the front door of the casing, through which the collar buttons drop when delivered by a proper money token.

14, 14, 14, 14, represent shelves which are inserted in front of the machine, and are designed to prevent anyone inserting a wire through the opening 13 and removing the collar buttons or other articles from the stacks.

15, 15, 15, 15, represent in this embodiment of my invention, stacks or guides which are adapted to receive opposite edges of the flange or bottom of a collar button and to permit the flange to slide freely up and down therein. In practice, said stacks 15 are filled with collar buttons, the lower button contacting with the forks of the delivery device which will be explained in detail hereafter.

16 represents an inclined coin-chute secured in line with the opening 17 in the front door of the casing. The walls of said chute 16 are inclined from the vertical. The opening 17 is inclined to the left from the vertical to correspond to the incline of the walls of the chute l6.

In practice, the vending machine may be arranged with any number of sets of stacks or guide-ways. In the drawings, the machine is shown as designed to hold four stacks of collar buttons, each of which stacks has a delivering mechanism and a coin-chute, but only one of said delivering mechanisms and coin-chutes is shown in the drawings, as the other three are exact duplicates.

18 is a bar extending across the top of the coin-chute 16 and is designed toprevent one who operates the machine from snapping a false token, as an iron slug, into the opening 17 with such force that it would be projected downwardly the length of the chute without being stopped.

19 is one of a series of magnets, one of which magnets is secured to the sideof each of the coin-chutes 16 by suitable screws or other devices, as shown in Fig. 4. A portion of the wall of the chute 16 to which the magnet 19 is attached is inclined at a greater angle than the other portions of its walls, and has an opening between the poles of the magnet and the portion 22 of the coin-chute. The magnet and opening are so arranged that in case a token composed of a magnetic substance is inserted in the open ing 17, it will be attracted by the poles of the magnet as it rolls downward and drawn to that side of the chute 16 and tipped out of said chute 16 before it reaches the chute 22, falling into the slug-receptacle 44, without operating the delivering portion of the mechanism.

20 is a screw which holds the magnet 19 in position.

21 is an opening in the slide of the coinchute, the purpose of which is to allow false tokens of a smaller diameter than the proper money token to fall out of the chute without operating the machine 22 is a vertical section or prolongation of the chute 16, so placed that a coin rolling down the chute 16 will drop into and fall downwardly into the vertical portion 22 and strike upon the portion 23 of the delivering device. The portion 23 is a part of and stands at right angles to the lever 24, which lever 24 is pivoted at the pivot point 25; 26 is a forked end portion which incloses a stud 27 secured to the portion 28. The portion 28 has the forks 29, 29, which extend outwardly a sufficient distance to contact with the stud or pivot 25 as shown in Figs. 1 and 6. Said portion 28 is pivoted on the pivot rod 30 in such manner that the forks 31 and 32 contact alternately as the portion 28 is oscillated by the lever 24, with the flange of collar buttons inserted in the race-way 15. This is illustrated by the two positions of the portion 28 shown in 1 and 6.

33 is a spiral spring of sufficient strength to hold the lever 24 and the portion 28 in their normal positions as shown in Fig. 1, but flexible enough to allow said lever 24 and the portion 28 to be oscillated by a money token of the proper value, as shown in Fig. 6.

34 is a narrow slot in the bottom of the coin-chute 16, its purpose being to permit a token thinner than the proper money token to fall through before it gets to the point where it will operate the delivering mechanism.

is a lug on the side of the coin-chute by means of which it is fastened to the casing of the vending machine; 36 is a plate secured to the portion 37. The plate 36 is of such form as to have secured therein the pivots 25 and 30, and a stud for the upper end of the spring 33.

The operation of my improved delivering device is as follows: On inserting a proper money token in the inclined opening 17, it will roll down in the chute 16 in contact with the wall opposite the magnet 19, and go by the magnet 19, thence into the vertical chute 22 where it will fall and strike the project ing end 23, tip lever 24 downwardly and oscillate the portion 28 until the fork portion 29 strikes upon the pivot 25, thereby pushing the fork 31 forward under the second collar button from the bottom and with drawing the fork 32 from under the lower collar but-ton, releasing it so it will fall downwardly into the opening 13 where the purchaser can obtain it. So soon as the coin moves out of contact with the portion 23, the lever 24 will be moved upwardly through the medium of the spring 33, thereby oscillating the portion 28, pushing the fork portion 32 outwardly in the path of the falling collar button and withdrawing the portion 31 from under the flange of the collar button, thereby allowing all the buttons in the column to fall downwardly until the lowermost one contacts with the forks 32, holding it there until another coin is inserted. In case a thin fraudulent token is inserted in the opening 17, it will roll down and fall through the slot 34 in the bottom of the chute 16; or if a magnetic substance is pushed into the opening 17 it will roll down, be attracted by the poles of the magnet 19, pulled over to that wall of the coin-chute 16, and when it passes the ends of the poles, it will fall outwardly and down through the mechanism into the slug-receptacle 44 without operating the machine.

In case it is desired to remove the money drawer, the top of the machine is unlocked and swung backwardly on the hinge 10, thereby releasing the top of the rod 7, so that the slide 6 may be pulled upwardly sufficient to allow the coin-receptacle 5 to be withdrawn through the opening in the side of the casing.

I wish it understood that my device is not confined to the delivery of collar buttons, as it may be made to deliver articles of various kinds.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a mechanism for vending articles of merchandise, a receptacle for holding said articles; an oscillating merchandise ejector pivotally mounted adjacent the merchandise receptacle; projecting points at one end of said ejector adapted to alternately engage and disengage the articles to be delivered; projecting stop members formed in the other end of said ejector; a stop to limit the movement of said ejector; a pivot point attached to the side of said ejector; and a pivoted lever pivoted to the casing of the machine, having a slot in one end adapted to inclose the pivot in the ejector, the other end of said pivoted lever being positioned under the coin-chute so a coin falling in said coinchute will contact therewith to deliver articles of merchandise.-

2. In a mechanism for vending articles of merchandise, a receptacle for holding the articles to be vended; an ejector having points at one end adapted to contact with said articles of merchandise and alternately engage and disengage the same; means for In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set 10 oscillating said ejector; a stop to limit the my hand in the presence of two subscribing movement of said ejector; a pivot on said witnesses this the 8th day of March, A. D. ejector; and a pivoted lever connecting at 1905.

one of its ends with the pivot on said ALBERT D GROVER' e ector, its other end arranged near a comchute in such manner that a coin falling WVitnesses:

therein will contact with it and cause the R. P. ELLIOTT,

ejector to deliver an article of merchandise. H. M. KELso. 

